NIU Today

Today, I write regarding some important developments regarding pension reform in the state of Illinois. Wednesday, a circuit court judge issued a temporary restraining order against implementing the pension reform law enacted last fall until the court can rule on the constitutionality of those measures. On Monday, the State Universities Annuitants Association reached a tentative...

Representatives from the State Universities Retirement System are coming to campus Thursday, April 24, to answer questions from employes at or near the end of their careers. Their visit is in response to changes made by legislators last year that could pose dramatic – and expensive – impacts for some of those employees. Affected workers...

NIU employees eligible for retirement this fiscal year should review their retirement benefits to analyze the impact of recent pension reform changes. “For employees eligible for retirement whose State University Retirement System annuity calculation is higher under the Money Purchase formula, pension reform changes passed by the state legislature last December could significantly reduce the...

The State Universities Retirement System of Illinois has posted an update regarding pension reform amendments. Gov. Pat Quinn signed PA98-599 Dec. 5, 2013. Because the amendments pertaining to employees in SURS Tier I (Traditional and Portable) Defined Benefit plan are complex, retirement plan administrators must rely on SURS when they interpret options and benefit calculations...

A retirement specialist from the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) will be on campus Wednesday, April 23, and Thursday, April 24, to meet with individual employees to discuss retirement estimates. Sessions will take place in rooms 303 and 304 of the Holmes Student Center. The SURS individual counseling eligibility guidelines and procedures can be reviewed online. SURS...

Northern Illinois University president John G. Peters and acting executive vice president and chief of operations Steven Cunningham lined up with other higher education leaders in the state to testify before the Senate Executive Committee as to the viability of legislation aimed to stabilize the State Universities Retirement System (SURS). Their combined testimony was well-received....

Northern Illinois University President John Peters and senior administrators have been actively involved in building consensus on a pension stabilization solution for the State Universities Retirement System (SURS) that enjoys the unanimous support of presidents and chancellors of all Illinois public universities. The plan – a combination of Senate Bill 1687 and Senate Bill 2591 – is expected to...

The Illinois General Assembly adjourned Friday evening without taking action to resolve Illinois’ pension funding crisis. Illinois public university presidents and chancellors worked diligently this spring to craft a viable solution to the SURS funding problems. The Illinois Government & Public Affairs Policy Institute (UIUC) developed a Six Point SURS Pension Reform Plan that was promptly...

Presidents and chancellors at public universities and colleges across the state reached an agreement in principal with House Speaker Michael J. Madigan and House leaders Thursday for public universities to assume the employer share of employee pension costs beginning in FY2015. The hope is that Thursday’s agreement might help break up the logjam in Springfield...

Dear Colleagues, I am writing to you today to update you with some very important information relative to the very fluid pension debate in the General Assembly in Springfield. Thursday afternoon, the Illinois Senate approved an amended version of Senate Bill 2404, a union-backed proposal sponsored by Senate President John Cullerton that offers Tier I...

The Illinois House Personnel and Pensions Committee passed a pension reform plan put forth by Speaker Michael J. Madigan by a 9-1 vote, clearing the way for the pension reform bill to be called before the full House today. Madigan’s plan calls for employees to pay 2 percent more of salary toward their retirement plans....

Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan filed an amendment to a comprehensive pension-reform package passed by the Senate last month that caps the salary on which a pension can be based and limits annual cost-of-living increases. The House Personnel & Pensions Committee is scheduled to consider the legislation at an 8:30 a.m. Wednesday, May 1, meeting. The...